From the Management Message Archive

Cell Phones and Email: Friends or Foes?

Written on: February 21, 2006

Message:

In the seminar “Time Management for Home Builders”, I talk about personal and organizational efficiencies, and the keys to getting more done in less time. In the 1980’s, when I first started conducting time management programs for industry professionals, we saw the great opportunity that the emerging technology of cell phones (we called them “car or truck phones” at the time) would have for the future.

In the 1990’s we saw the same opportunity with the usage of the Internet, e-mail, and instant messaging. We absorbed in these technologies very quickly – think about everybody running around tapping on their “Crack-berrys” (i.e. Blackberry pagers) and talking in loud voices on their cell phones. These tools allowed us instant gratification at a reasonable price – fast and cheap are the same benefits that keep McDonalds in business.

Unfortunately, there was also an unexpected and deadly side effect of these technology advancements on the time management capability of builders and other managers. We have forgotten how to plan, delegate, and protect our precious time.

In my early (pre-Internet) programs on the “Ten Truths of Time Management”, “Planning” and “Delegation” used to be my numbers one and two. But there is a whole generation of new management talent out there who has never had to ply their trade without cell phones and e-mail, and I’ve come to the conclusion that technology has eroded our time management ability in those two key areas.

Planning is necessary to avoid crisis management, costly delays, and budget variances. But with today’s instant technology, a crisis can be addressed more easily than ever, so we tend to skip the planning part – there’s just “not enough time”. But then not planning creates even more crisis, and on it goes. Not having “time to plan” is like saying that when the sink is overflowing, there is not enough time to turn off the faucet because you’re too busy mopping the floor! So rather than planning the next day, week, month, and year, we are responding to today’s crisis (and maybe this hour’s crisis) on the cell phone and/or via e-mail and IM.

Delegating: Today, many builders can’t see any good reason to have a personal assistant because they have voice mail and e-mail. I know because I fell into that trap and had to figure it out the hard way.

I thought that by making better use of technology myself, I could free up 20 hours of my time to address the issues that I used to have an assistant handle, and “save” the $35,000-$40,000 per year that a good personal assistant might cost. I quickly learned that if my time was worth $100/hour or more (and most of us are worth much more), then in reality I was flushing away a $10 bill for every $1 saved by not having an administrative assistant. A good admin can handle all of your communications, be trained to solve many of your daily problems, as well as run their own projects and processes during a 40-hour workweek.

Even in those companies where assistants are still available, I see an increasing inability to delegate to them. Management is defined as “getting things done through others” and delegation is one of the keys to management. You have to know how to delegate authority to well-trained associates, on well-thought-out projects and processes (planning) to truly call yourself a “manager”. Instead, what I see are assistants being used to do repetitive grunt work and not being trained (or allowed) to problem-solve. They have been trained to “call the boss” who can solve (or thinks he/she can solve) every problem. Is it any wonder why people are unhappy in their positions and why turnover is so high.

Throughout the past five years, we have seen an unhealthy trend reversal in the industry. Executives during the 1990’s reported an annual decline in the number of hours they spent working. But since the turn of the century the number of hours worked per week has been rising again! It’s my belief that this is not a sign of a tremendous work ethic, but rather of organizational insanity. Your organization can’t grow efficiently if management is so busy working in the business that they have no time or energy to work on the business.

Cell phones and e-mail are great tools, but they can also be the scourge of efficiency and organizational development. If you find yourself not getting the things on your important “to-do” list done each day because you are on the phone or answering e-mails for hours at a time then you have the symptoms that indicate “crisis management”. If you find yourself addressing e-mail early in the morning or late at night and all weekend long then you have the symptoms of crisis management and neglect of your family and self.

I have started to set aside an hour per day for unscheduled calls (30 minutes in the morning, and 30 in the afternoon) and another 30 minutes for e-mail each half-day. I am recommitted to training my staff to solve their own problems, and to be creative in saving their own time so that they can assist in improving our business. I am going to become productive again and get my personal life back too (as soon as I finish this e-mail...). How about you?

Have a great week!

Bob

For additional information on this management tip or any other homebuilder management concerns call us at 407/447-5209 (Florida office) or 909/335-9100 (California Office).